


Wet and Warm

by iam93percentstardust



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Barnes' A+ Flirting, Humor, M/M, Past James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton - Freeform, Tony Stark Has a Great Ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28504470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: There’s already someone tanning themselves at the pool by the time Bucky gets there. He idly glances over at them and then stops dead in his tracks, arrested by the sight of the perfect epitome of the peach emoji, the shape only partially hidden by a pair of tiny red swim trunks.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 25
Kudos: 421





	1. Pool Days

**Author's Note:**

> Quick little TW for this chapter: Bucky thinks that Tony is drowning so he jumps in to save him

There’s already someone tanning themselves at the pool by the time Bucky gets there. He idly glances over at them and then stops dead in his tracks, arrested by the sight of the perfect epitome of the peach emoji, the shape only partially hidden by a pair of tiny red swim trunks. He takes another long look, dragging his gaze over fluffy brown hair that he wants to mess up, a tanned back turned gloriously gold in the early morning sun, and toned legs that speak to hours on the stairmaster.

Without even thinking about it, he makes a beeline over to the lounge chair next to Peach Emoji and lays out his towel, dumping his stuff on top of it. Bucky doesn’t come here to sun, he comes here to swim but it’s not like he can take his apartment keys with him into the pool so he might as well get a chair and it might as well be next to Peach Emoji.

Except that Peach Emoji glares at him over the rim of his Gucci sunglasses—hel- _lo_ Bambi eyes—and snaps, “Do you mind?”

“Nope,” Bucky says cheerfully, too caught up in how pretty Peach Emoji is to worry about how frosty he sounds. “It’s a free country, isn’t it?”

“It is, which is why I’m invoking my freedom of personal space so _go away_ ,” and with that Peach Emoji reaches over and shoves Bucky’s stuff off the chair.

“Hey!” he protests. “There’s no need to be rude, Sunshine.”

If looks could kill, Sunshine’s glare would have fried him to a crisp. “Do you have _any_ idea who I am?”

“Grumpy the seventh Dwarf?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say because Sunshine looks like he would have steam coming out of his ears if it were humanly possible. After another long glare, Sunshine gets up from his chair, takes his stuff, and stomps off to another part of the pool. And after another moment, Bucky takes his own stuff and follows.

“Do you have something against personal space?” Sunshine asks as he keeps walking, presumably to deter Bucky but he’s got nothing better to do today and annoying Sunshine is turning out to be the most fun he’s had all summer.

“Look, I just want to get to know the new neighbor,” Bucky tells him. “You _are_ new, aren’t you? Haven’t seen you around here before, and me and Stevie know just about everyone in the complex.”

“Because you’re just sooo friendly?”

“Because Stevie picks a fight with everyone he meets.”

That startles a laugh out of Sunshine and aw hell, he’s got a pretty laugh too? Bucky’s definitely screwed. “So,” he says to cover up how flustered he is. “New?”

“If I tell you, will you leave me alone?”

They’re going in circles around the pool now as Sunshine tries to struggle into what looks like a silk robe and yeah, this is definitely the most fun Bucky’s had in ages.

“Probably not,” he says with a snort.

Sunshine sighs. “Yes, I’m new.”

“See, was that so hard to admit?”

“ _Yes!_ ” Sunshine snaps, spinning on his heel to face Bucky. Except—oops, he’s definitely way too close to the edge—he teeters on the side of the pool, windmilling his arms—Bucky tries to catch him but slips as well—

There’s a splash as Sunshine topples into the pool and then Bucky himself hits the water.

It takes him a moment to orient himself and then he’s kicking his shoes off because they weigh him down and they managed to fall into the deep end of the pool. Then he’s diving for Sunshine, who’s still thrashing as he sinks, the lightweight robe floating up around his face to block his mouth and nose. He wraps an arm around Sunshine’s waist—unable to help but notice in the back of his mind how little it is—and swims upward, pushing against their downward momentum.

He surfaces with a gasp and immediately reaches for Sunshine, pulling the fabric away from his mouth. Sunshine splutters for a moment and then helps him, shoving the robe back down so it floats around his waist instead. Bucky kicks them in the direction of the shallower end, not stopping until they can both stand comfortably.

“Can you swim?” he asks as he slowly lets go of Sunshine’s waist.

“Of course I can swim,” Sunshine says waspishly. “This is _your_ fault. If you hadn’t been bothering me—”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. That’s on me,” Bucky says immediately. He _can_ recognize when he’s made a mistake no matter what Tasha says.

Sunshine blinks at him, clearly surprised by his admission. Discomfited, Bucky glances at where his shoes are sinking to the bottom of the pool. He swims back into the deep end and dives down for them. They were an expensive gift from Clint back when they were dating, he doesn’t want to lose them.

To his surprise, when he resurfaces, Sunshine hasn’t stormed off in a huff. Instead, he’s sitting beside the edge of the pool, wringing water out of his robe.

“Thank you,” Sunshine mutters, not looking at him.

“What was that?” he asks, not sure if he heard him correctly.

Sunshine gives him an annoyed look. “You heard me.”

Right then. “Sorry again,” he says. “I just—” He stops, unsure how to say that Sunshine intrigues him and he let that curiosity get the better of him. “Bucky,” he says eventually. “Bucky Barnes.”

Sunshine winces.

“Yeah, terrible name, I know.”

He’s rewarded with a shy smile for that and he has to resist the urge to punch the air triumphantly. “Do I at least get to know your name?” he calls after him as Sunshine stands, gathers all his stuff again, and starts to head out of the pool area.

Sunshine pauses at the gate, looks back at him, and says, “Tony.”

He waits until Tony’s gone to go ahead and do that fist pump.


	2. Sweet Tea with Ice

Bucky would say that his emotion upon entering Tasha’s apartment to find Tony chatting with Clint is pure delight. He’s seen Tony around the complex a couple times since they met though they’ve never had time to stop and chat, much to his chagrin. What can he say, he grew up with Stevie and that made him predisposed to liking tiny firecrackers. So yeah, he’s delighted to see that Tony has apparently made friends with Tasha, enough so that he’s been invited to her weekly cookout.

He’d say though that Tony’s emotion at seeing him is probably horror, judging by the thinly disguised expression that flits across his face before he turns, firmly putting his back to the door.

Bad move on his part.

Bucky passes the case of beer he’d brought off to Sam and saunters over, throwing his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Hey there, Sunshine,” he drawls, winking at Clint when he raises an eyebrow.

He can practically _hear_ Tony’s teeth grind together. Part of him wishes that someone would let Tony in on the fact that half the fun is getting a rise out of him. The rest of him is too amused by Tony’s response to care.

“Barnes,” Tony mutters.

“So you two have met already,” Clint states, looking between the two.

“Barnes practically threw me in the pool,” Tony laments, affecting an expression of woe and sorrow.

Bucky is too busy gaping at his blatant lie to realize that Tasha has snuck up behind them until she says, voice dangerously low, “You did _what_ , Barnes?”

He jumps about a foot in the air—crazy Russian exchange student with her ability to walk damn near silently—and spins. “I did no such thing!” he protests but it’s no good. Once Tasha has taken someone under her wing, it’s come hell or high water and she’s apparently decided that Tony is to be one of her ducklings.

He has the sinking feeling that there’s going to be payback for him irritating Tony into falling into the pool, especially when Tasha gets up in his face and, behind her back, he sees Tony drop his façade and wink at him. His jaw drops again—why that little—stinking— _menace_.

Oh it is _on_.

He’s all but shooting daggers from his eyes as he lets Tasha drag him off to the kitchen where she forces him still and dumps a couple fistfuls of ice cubes down the back of his shirt, lecturing him all the while. Never let it be said that her revenge isn’t creative.

It takes him nearly ten minutes to escape her clutches and by that time, Sam is flipping the first of the burgers off the grill. Bucky shakes the last of the ice out of his shirt and grabs a plate. He loads up his burger with tomatoes and pickles, just the way he likes it, and is glancing around for an empty seat when he spots Tony sitting by himself, looking a little forlorn now that Clint has wandered off to talk to Steve and Scott.

It’s a heart-wrenching sight.

Aw hell.

He sighs and grabs a cup of sweet tea (he’s pretty sure that’s what Tony was drinking earlier) and a beer for himself and balances the whole thing, plus his plate, on his arm, thanking the three years he spent as a server that he doesn’t drop everything. Then he sets off toward Tony, stopping right in front of him.

“Sweet tea, right?” he asks, holding the cup out.

Tony looks startled and then a little wary. “It’s not poisoned, is it?”

“I’m not that subtle, sweet thing.”

To his absolute delight, Tony goes bright pink at the nickname, muttering his thanks as he takes the cup out of Bucky’s hand.

“And I’m not sure what gave you the impression I’m interested in fighting you. _Other_ things, sure.” He waggles his eyebrows, hoping that Tony gets the point—and that he gets to see that gorgeous blush again.

Tony doesn’t blush but he does give him a shy smile over the rim of his cup.

“Look, Sunshine, I think we got off to a bad start,” Bucky says. “So, hi, I’m Bucky Barnes and you’re just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Tony nearly chokes on his drink but after a moment, he replies, “I’m Tony Stark and I didn’t notice anything because you were too busy annoying me but now I’m looking at your arms and I don’t think I can look away.”

Bucky laughs, loud enough that he draws the attention of just about everyone else. “So you’re a student at the college, right?”

Tony nods. “Graduated with my B.S. earlier in the summer, moved out here for grad school.”

He whistles. “Must be some sort of wunderkind. You look a little young for grad school, aren’t’cha?”

Sadly, Tony’s smile drops away to be replaced with a scowl. “Yeah, something like that.”

Right, so, touchy subject then. That’s fine, Bucky knows all about touchy subjects. Stevie might be big now but for years, the phrase “ninety pounds soaking wet” could get his hackles up faster than anything else.

He decides it’s time for a subject change. “How’re you liking your sweet tea?” he asks, gesturing at the drink.

“It’s good,” Tony replies, sounding surprised.

“Yeah, Sam’s from Virginia—sorta, grew up in D.C., it’s a long story, don’t worry about it—anyway, they’re good at making things like that. You’ll need to watch your waist though, if you worry about things like that. Sweet tea’s about the same as drinking straight sugar.”

Tony practically spews his tea across the balcony and Bucky breaks into amused laughter at the sight.

“You’re awful,” Tony grumbles but he doesn’t sound as huffy as he did at the pool, just kind of reluctantly amused, and Bucky nods.

“That I am, sweet thing. Absolutely shameless.” He leers at where he can just barely spot the curve of Tony’s butt on the bench.

Tony swats at him.


	3. Fun in the Sun

Every year for the Fourth of July, the whole gang pitches in to rent a beach house and they all drive down to spend a couple days on the beach barbecuing, swimming, and generally trying their best to ignore the state of the country that they live in. This year, in addition to Tony, they’ve got Scott, Clint’s new friend from his linear algebra class, Wanda, Nat’s new friend from her dance studio, and Pietro, Wanda’s brother, joining them. Bucky’s kind of excited about it, partially because it means they’ll have new people to join in on Sam’s ridiculous party games and partially because it means they all have to chip in less money for the house, which is always nice in this economy.

He and Nat are almost always the first people to the house but not this year. This year, there’s a bright red Mustang that Bucky recognizes as belonging to Tony already parked in the driveway when Natasha pulls in.

“Excellent,” he says fervently.

Without looking, Nat reaches over and swats at him. “You will not irritate him,” she says firmly.

“Hey,” he protests, “Tony and I are getting along just fine these days, thank you.” It’s even true. After their less-than-stellar start, he and Tony have been getting along like a house on fire since the night of Nat’s first cookout even though Nat clearly thinks his intentions are still bad.

And if he’s being completely honest, he’s developed one hell of a crush on Tony Stark. It’s just that he’s always had a thing for people who can not only take everything he throws at them but throw it back. And he has a thing for pretty brunets with long eyelashes and another thing for people who have the world’s most perfect butt and still another for smart people who can keep up with him in a conversation about mechanics. And Tony meets every single one of those things and then some.

But Bucky’s not stupid. He’s heard Tony talk about his last ex, who was apparently just trying to ride his coattails, and about the ex before that, who was some kind of corporate spy for her dad’s company, and he can read between the lines about how much they messed him up. It’s not like he thinks he would treat him as badly as they did but he’s also pretty sure that Tony’s just trying to put himself back together and take some time to himself at the moment.

He can wait.

Tony isn’t in the house when he wanders through so he drops his bag on the bed in the room he’s picked out and heads out to the beach. Tony’s car is in the driveway so the beach is the most likely place for him to be.

Sure enough, he spots a lone umbrella on the beach and someone stretched out on a towel underneath it. They’re the only house for miles so it has to be Tony. Bucky slips his shoes off, leaving them on the deck, and heads on over.

“Hey, you,” he says cheerfully.

“What is it with you and bothering me while I’m tanning?” Tony asks, not bothering to open his eyes.

He points out, “If you were tanning, you wouldn’t have the umbrella.”

“Fair enough.”

Bucky thinks about flopping down in the sand next to him but he doesn’t have a towel and he doesn’t feel like getting sand up his shorts so he stays standing as he says, “Me and Nat just got in.”

“Mm, I heard you pull up. Surprised you unpacked that fast.”

“Didn’t,” he says with a casual shrug. “Came down to see you first.”

Tony stills for a moment before opening his eyes and shifting up onto his elbows. “What?”

Bucky gives him a confused look. “I came to see you first? So I could say hi?”

“Oh,” Tony says softly, wondrously.

Bucky starts to open his mouth to ask if no one’s ever done something like that for him before and just as quickly, closes it. If Tony’s reacting like this, then he knows damn well that no one’s done that and he doesn’t need to bring it up. By now, he knows Tony well enough to know that he’ll just shut back down if Bucky makes a big deal out of it.

For a moment, they’re both quiet, listening to the crash of the waves against the sand. In the distance, he hears someone else pull into the driveway, probably Steve unless someone else has an engine that grinds like that when they’re parking.

“You wanna come up to the house and reassure Nat that I haven’t bothered you into leaving?” Bucky says eventually. “I think she’s convinced you still hate me.”

Tony laughs and nods, reaching out his hands to Bucky. “Help me up and I’ll go tell her there’s nothing you could do to make me leave.”

“Careful, you don’t want to challenge me,” Bucky replies, taking Tony’s hands in his. They’re small compared to his own, and warm, but they’re calloused from the hours Tony puts into his inventions and he has a firm grip.

He tugs, pulling him up, but he must misjudge his strength, or maybe Tony’s, because Tony falls into him, stumbling against his body. For a moment, Tony is pressed up against him, looking up at him with dark eyes and a slightly parted mouth that he aches to kiss.

“Bucky,” Tony whispers and he’s never loved hearing his name as much as he loves hearing it when Tony says it like that.

“Tony,” he whispers back. Tony shivers and Bucky’s hand slips around his waist to hold him. He says it again, wanting to see him tremble again. “Tony.”

“Antoshka! Yasha!”

They both jump apart, startled out of their little bubble by the sound of Nat calling them. They look up toward the house to where Nat is waving at them. As soon as she sees they’re looking, she gestures toward the house, calling them back.

“We should—” he starts.

“Right, Nat—” Tony finishes.

“Yeah.” He bites back his bitterness over the broken moment and helps Tony gather up his stuff before they head back up to the house, presumably to greet Steve and whoever drove down with him. Still, he can’t help but go over those last few moments in the back of his mind, wondering if it had just been the heat or if Tony had really been as into him as he seemed. He glances over at Tony walking beside him.

Soon, he thinks.

He can wait if he has to but he thinks soon, Tony will be ready for more.


	4. Thunder in the Air

The house is quiet tonight. Just about everyone went out dancing a couple hours ago. Bucky had been planning on heading down to the beach instead but then one of those summer thunderstorms had come through and parked itself right over the top of the house so he’s stuck inside. He supposes he could have taken his car to join the others but he doesn’t really want to. He loves spending the week with everyone but it can get real loud, real fast, and he’d kind of wanted the night to himself.

He’s settling on the couch with a couple slices of leftover pizza and a soda, planning on watching whatever’s on TV, when the front door opens. Someone stamps their feet on the mat just inside the front door and then kicks off their shoes.

“Bucky?” the someone—Tony—calls. Bucky grins. A night in with Tony, that sounds just about perfect to him.

“In here,” he yells back. A moment later, Tony is jumping over the backend of the couch to join him.

“What’re we watching?” he asks, reaching over and snagging one of the slices of pizza. Bucky swats at his hand but completely misses. Unrepentantly, Tony stuffs half the pizza in his mouth.

“Gross,” Bucky comments. Tony smiles at him, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk. “Figured I’d watch whatever’s on. Was gonna go down to the beach but—”

Tony swallows. “But the storm.”

“Yep.”

For a moment, they’re both quiet as they listen to the rain on the beach house’s roof. Bucky actually loves summer thunderstorms at the beach. There’s nothing quite like them anywhere else in the world. He just wishes it hadn’t been tonight when he’d been planning on swimming for a bit.

“Get bored at the club?” he eventually asks.

Tony grimaces. “Club was just a little…much.”

Bucky thinks about Nat telling him about her conversation with Tony’s friend, Rhodey, a couple weeks ago, Rhodey who’s worried about how much Tony drinks, who convinced Tony to move out of the dorms and into an apartment to get him away from the parties. “Yeah, they’re not really my scene either,” he says instead. Tony smiles at him, small and knowing and grateful.

He looks away, biting back a blush at Tony’s look, and scrolls through the channel landing on some channel doing a Christmas in July movie marathon. “How do you feel about _White Christmas?_ ” he asks.

“Love it,” Tony says, tucking his feet up under him. “When I was younger, Jarvis and Ana used to dance to _The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing_ to amuse me. They taught me all the steps.”

“Me too,” Bucky says, surprised. Tony looks over at him invitingly and he explains, “Not my butler, of course, but my sister was in dance for fifteen years. One year, her and her partner were supposed to do this one and she needed someone at home to practice with.”

He stands and holds out a hand to Tony as the song begins to play through the TV’s speakers, quirking a smile at him. Tony looks hesitant but he lets Bucky pull him up off the couch.

“The best things,” Bucky sings lowly into his ear as he brings Tony closer to him with one hand behind his back guiding him, “happen while you’re dancing. Things you would not do at home come naturally on the floor.”

He dips him just a little, continuing, “For dancing soon becomes romancing when you hold a boy in your arms that you’ve never held before.”

Tony freezes and Bucky wonders if he’s taken it too far, if Tony isn’t as ready for this as he thought he was. Once again, the silence is drowned out by the rain thundering against the windows and the song still playing on the TV.

“Tony—” he starts to say.

He doesn’t get any further.

Tony surges up and kisses him, wrapping his arms around Bucky’s neck to hold him there, not that he needs any encouraging. It takes him a moment to get his brain with the program but then he’s clutching Tony’s waist in his hands, pressing him as close as he can get.

“Bucky,” Tony gasps into his mouth. Bucky kisses him again, bends him over his arm to take all the pleasures from Tony’s lips that he’s been imagining since they first met.

“Sweet thing,” he groans as Tony tears his mouth away to inhale greedily. He tucks his head into the curve of Tony’s neck, breathing in the scent of him. “Sunshine.”

“Call me that again,” Tony whispers, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

“ _Sunshine._ ” Tony shivers and Bucky grins. He kisses the skin he can reach, takes it between his teeth, and worries a bruise into it. “You like it when I call you that?”

“Mmhmm.”

He slides his hand under Tony’s shirt, running his fingers along the strip of skin he’s revealed. Tony moans. “Wanna go upstairs and find out what else I can call you?”

“That’s terrible,” Tony tells him but his eyes are dark and hungry. “Yes.”


End file.
